Tag Archives: unbelief

Jesus was unable to do “mighty works” for the people of Galilee due to their unbelief. The people had hardened their hearts toward the notion of a miracle-working God, and they received exactly what they believed they would.

Nothing.

But here’s the silver lining most of us miss when considering this passage.

“Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.” (Mark 6:5)

Even in the midst of their marvelous unbelief, Jesus was still able to heal a few of ‘em. I don’t know how much a few is. I’d say at least three, but we’d all agree that the bare minimum would be two. I also don’t know what sorts of ailments he cured that morning. Decide for yourselves if it was a common cold, a broken wrist, or a sprained ankle. It hardly matters what He healed. The point is that He did it. Even when faced with mockery and detestation, God’s goodness still was present!

I also like that healing only three or so people of mild illnesses isn’t considered that big of a deal. For most churches, that’d be a great year, but for Jesus, it was kind of a letdown.

There are two lessons we can glean from this story.

1. Even in churches with obscene amounts of unbelief, God can still show up. If you’re willing to trust God, you can bring God’s kingdom wherever you go, and you can at least lay hands on a few sick people and heal them.

2. Don’t settle for less than what’s available. The bible says that when only a handful of people are healed, it’s hardly worth mentioning. God has so much more in store for those who have the audacity to trust in Him.

Don’t allow the unbelief of a few to slow you down. Go out into the world and do the greater works Jesus has called you to do!

Jesus walked on water. He calmed the raging seas. He healed the sick, opened blind eyes and deaf ears, and caused the lame to walk. He fed ten thousand people with a kindergartener’s sack lunch… on two separate occasions. He went head to head with the religious elite, defended the widows and orphans, and transformed the world as we know it. He did everything and could do anything.

Well, not quite anything.

“Now Jesus could do no mighty work [in His own country], except that He laid His hands in a few sick people and healed them.” (Mark 6:5)

Hold the phone. Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Great High Priest, the Lion of Judah and Lamb of God, the Son of Man, the Jesus, couldn’t do mighty works?

That doesn’t make any sense. What could have prevented the Word Made Flesh Himself from healing the masses, when He had already proven Himself more than capable? What force possibly could have stopped Jesus Christ of Nazareth from performing mighty works?

“And He marveled because of their unbelief.” (Mark 6:6)

It was the people’s lack of faith that stopped the miraculous power of God from working in their lives. They chose to believe that Jesus’ power wasn’t available for them. And as a result, it wasn’t.

Over and over and over again in the scriptures, we read that it is our faith that triggers God’s power to move in our lives. Every single day, we make thousands of choices to trust in the world and the circumstances and whatever else there is, or to trust in God’s Word.